Harbaugh Started It All at San Diego

The University of San Diego sits on 180 acres overlooking a canyon. The campus is dominated by 16th century Spanish Renaissance architecture. It delivers an elite, Catholic education. It’s near a vibrant downtown and stunning beaches. Plus, don’t forget, there’s all that glorious sunshine.

So Ky Snyder, USD’s athletic director, wasn’t surprised in January 2004 when a “really good pool of candidates” sought the school’s head football coaching job.

Capacity of Torero Stadium was less than 5,000 at the time, the team competed in Division I-AA and there were no football scholarships, but this was still San Diego.

Then Snyder received word from Monsignor Dan Dillabough, a campus leader who worked with the San Diego Chargers, that Jim Harbaugh wanted the job.

Everyone in football knew Harbaugh, the longtime NFL quarterback then in his second season as an Oakland Raiders assistant, was destined to be a head coach.